It is he, in part, who directs Gilou and Berthaud in their investigation, authorising armed raids and so forth. The legal drama aspect of Spiral takes centre stages as prosecutor François Roban (Philippe Duclos), another series favourite, is given the Herville case. Laure Berthaud will battle for custody of her daughter. It seems, once again, that the team will be working against some of their own superiors.

Something major must be going on if a police commissioner has been murdered, and when Berthaud eventually starts working with Gilou and Ali the trail takes them in the direction of a major drugs and money-laundering operation linked to one of Herville’s snitches as well as important figures in high finance and the law. Frédéric ‘Tintin’ Fromentin (Fred Bianconi), the third detective in the main trio, is nowhere to be seen following the personal problems he experienced during season six. Meanwhile, Laure Berthaud (Caroline Proust), the woman detective who has been the main character throughout Spiral’s seven seasons, begins this outing on the fringes. Gilou (left) and new partner Ali investigate a double-murder in Paris. Ali is fresh out of the academy while Gilou is an old dog who treads close to the line, often crossing it, whenever he’s on a major case. When police commissioner Herville and a second victim are shot dead in a Chinese restaurant, detective Gilles ‘Gilou’ Escoffier (Thierry Godard) and his new partner Ali Amrani, played by Tewfik Jallab, begin an investigation. Once described as the French version of The Wire, it’s not quite as gritty but it does draw together elements of police procedural and legal drama to excellent effect with classy production values.

If you’re new to Spiral, please try to bear with us because every season so far has been filled with seat-of-the-pants plot twists, sudden murders and instant reversals of fortune. The 12-episode series will begin broadcasting double-bills on BBC Four on Saturday 12 October in the 9pm slot. It’s going to start with a bang, with a whole selection of favourite characters – Gilou, Berthaud, Joséphine, Roban and even Tintin – making a return, sometimes in surprising circumstances.

We’ve got good news for lovers of the French crime drama Spiral, with the announcement that season seven is coming to BBC Four this autumn.

Engrenages saison 7 episode 1 streaming